Happy Monday, y’all! I hope you had a nice and safe weekend. I guess, it is ready or not and it is Monday again. The crazy thing is since I have not been working and looking for a job, my days have been getting confused, and yet I tend to know when Monday returns. For the most part, Monday is just another day and can offer new opportunities. The start of the week allows us to make changes and anything we did not accomplish last week, we can try again. I think it is a positive way to view the dreaded Monday mornings.

The start of my week is going to a follow-up appointment with my neurologist. These appointments never make sense because nothing changes with how I handle Multiple Sclerosis. I am still going to take Gilenya to slow the progression, at least until there is a cure. I will continue to take the other medications I have been on for years and normally will not agree to take anything additional because I do not want to be on dozens of medications that may or may not have unpleasant side effects.

With these specialist appointments, I know I will not see the doctor and will see the Nurse Practitioner, which I like. The only reason I have the specialist I do is that she won me over by saying how much she loved and idolized my former Neurologist. It was refreshing to know how much she thought of the doctor that diagnosed with 22 years ago because I thought the world of him. Dr. Kaufman had patience that never ended and considering I was only 19 when he changed my life forever telling me I had MS, he understood why I was so resistant and fought him every step of the way. The poor guy had told me that I reminded him of his youngest daughter, so that meant he had to deal with someone extremely stubborn at work and at home.

I think it is crucial to be prepared for appointments with doctors, especially specialists because any questions we forget to ask during the appointment will take more effort than necessary to get answered later. I know there would be several things I forget to ask during an appointment because I am rushing to get out of the office. The following are what I do to make sure I do not forget anything during my appointment.

I take a small notebook to the appointment with me. In the notebook, I write down all medications I take along with the dosage of each, any questions I have for the Nurse Practitioner, and refills I will need to be refilled. Considering I know I will forget the answers to the questions I ask, I write down a summary of what was said. We all know how much doctors like to suggest new medications, and even though my answer is typically no, I write down the new medications suggested to me so I can look them up when I get home.

My appointment is at 9:00 AM, so I will be the first appointment of the day. I prefer this because hopefully I will not be there too long and can be back home. I will let y’all know how it goes and considering nothing changes, I will not have too much to report. Early Monday morning doctor’s appointments are not an exciting way to start the week, but it will be fine!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope your morning begins well and the day only gets better. If you have any other ways you prepare for doctor’s appointments, I would love to know how you do! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa